Judge rules Ridgefield dad who left infant son in hot car can spend Christmas with family out of state

DANBURY - A judge ruled Tuesday that the Ridgefield father charged with negligent homicide after police say he left he his 15-month-old son in a hot car can travel out of state to spend the holidays with his family.

Kyle Seitz, 36, was charged last month after a four-month investigation by Ridgefield police. Judge Kevin Russo removed the restriction Tuesday that bars Seitz from traveling out of state when he appeared in Danbury Superior Court, according to his attorney John Gulash.

Gulash said that the court still holds Seitz's passport and that his client planned to travel out of state to spend Christmas with his wife and daughters, who have moved to an undisclosed location out of state.

Benjamin Seitz died July 7 of hyperthermia due to environmental exposure, the medical examiner ruled in August. The day Benjamin Seitz was left inside his father's Jeep, the temperature rose to 88 degrees.

The warrant for Seitz's arrest indicates that after preparing his son for day care and putting him in a car seat, Kyle Seitz stopped to get coffee and failed to drop off the infant before going to work. Later, Seitz drove in his car for lunch and returned to work, then in the late afternoon drove to the day care center to pick up his son, all before discovering the child was still in the vehicle, the warrant says.